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Billerica School Committee supports field plan

By Rick Sobey, rsobey@lowellsun.com

Updated:
10/31/2017 06:34:58 AM EDT

BILLERICA -- The School Committee delivered a strong statement Monday night in support of the town's field maintenance plan and Article 10, which will be voted on by residents in an upcoming special election.

Members voted 5-0 for a resolution that backs Article 10 from fall Town Meeting, calling it an "essential first step" to consolidating field maintenance and care across town.

The committee also agreed to work with the town to develop a plan to "turn over the custody and care of the fields" to the Parks and Trees Department in 2019.

"We can work together," said School Committee Vice Chair Mark Efstratiou. "We can stick to a plan.

"We need to do this," he added.

This resolution on Monday comes in the wake of Selectman George Simolaris' campaign to trigger the Article 10 special election on Dec. 2. He collected more than 1,500 signatures to petition the article, which includes $130,000 in field maintenance funding among other fiscal 2018 budget line items.

The field maintenance funding is for employee positions ($29,856) and capital ($100,000) for the first phase of the Parks and Trees Department. Town Meeting recently voted 126-47 in support of Article 10.

Simolaris had proposed an amendment to remove $129,856 from Article 10, but it failed 118-55. As a result, he launched a referendum petition to oppose the funding.

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School Committee members on Monday made it clear that they support the town's plan, and hope residents vote "yes" for Article 10 on Dec. 2.

"The schools, the town and the youth organizations, we all need to work together to get the best fields," said School Committee Chairman Jim Gately.

Billerica Superintendent of Schools Tim Piwowar said the field maintenance plan did not simply "pop up" in the last few months. The town has been working on it for years, he stressed.

"We want to create equity among all the fields in town," Piwowar said. Youth sports organizations are responsible now, and some fields are in great shape while others are in poor shape, he said.

Town Manager John Curran delivered a presentation on Article 10, telling the School Committee members that the field maintenance plan would be cost-neutral for families.

Today, youth sports organizations spend money on maintaining fields. That cost would not go up with any potential fees with this plan, according to Curran.

"We want to protect the youth participants and their parents bearing the burden of participation fees," Curran said.

The worst-case scenario for a median household would be $10 a year in property taxes, he said. That could come down because he believes the Recreation Department will receive more money from new programs.

The town continues to meet with Little League, Pop Warner and other youth organizations to go over the field maintenance plan, Curran added. It's been a very positive dialogue, he said.

"Right now the system is broken," Curran said about the fields. "The town and the schools do not dedicate enough resources to the town and school fields.

"Youth organizations do the best job they can to fill that void, but they don't have the bandwidth to take care of the fields on a consistent level across town," he added.

Efstratiou recalled a parent laughing at the condition of a sports field a couple years ago.

"It's time for us to do this," he said.

Curran also gave a presentation on Article 10 at the Board of Selectmen meeting Monday night. While Simolaris has said the town "slipped in" the field maintenance funding to the article, Curran emphasized that Article 10 is a "routine budget amendment."

Selectman Kim Conway said she "emphatically supports" Article 10, and warned residents of misinformation about the funding plan.

On the other side, Simolaris reiterated that the funding was "slipped in" and "hidden" in the budget article.

"It's bad for youth sports, bad for the taxpayers," Simolaris said.

"We need more discussion on this," he said. "This is big government getting bigger."

Simolaris has argued that youth sports organizations would have to pay inflated fees to use the fields, and would lose their autonomy over the fields.

A referendum petition has to address the entire article, not just the $130,000 field maintenance funding; it would affect Medicare increases ($100,000) and costs for this past summer's Senate special election ($25,000).

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